Chapter Twenty
The sun and the clouds fought for dominance over the sky when the day of Rebecca’s date with Justyn finally arrived. Raindrops dripped sporadically. The sun would burst back onto the scene, drying up the rain almost before it had time to hit the ground. The air stayed damp, leaving Rebecca’s hair flat and lifeless. As she examined her reflection in the mirror, she wondered why the forces of nature were always working against her.
Besides having a bad hair day, she also had no idea what she was supposed to wear for this date. Since Justyn wouldn’t even give her a tiny hint about where they were going, she wasn’t sure whether to go with a casual or a semi-casual look. The burlap sack he had mentioned was starting to seem like a good idea. That might teach him not to mess with a girl and her wardrobe. She finally decided on a brown skirt and a lightweight, slightly low-cut, tan blouse. If she could get her hair to come to life, she would be fine.
Rebecca was already nervous, and she practically jumped out of her skin when she heard the sudden sputter and groan of an old clunker pulling up to her house. Strange and unfamiliar noises were coming from her driveway. Rebecca peeked out her window just in time to see Justyn put an ancient black Mustang in park. And once again she made a mad dash down the stairs in order to beat her father to the door. If her parents saw Justyn’s dark make-up and facial piercings, an interrogation would be the least of their problems. Her father would probably flat out forbid her from going out with him at all. And that wasn’t something she had any intention of putting up with.
Rebecca yanked open the front door just as Justyn was stretching his arm out to ring the doorbell. She immediately clicked the door shut behind her, taking a moment to notice he was dressed in his everyday black attire. It made her wonder if she was overdressed. But he was quick to quell her worries. He looked her over with an approving smile.
“You look lovely, Becca.”
“Thanks. So, I’m all ready. Let’s get going.”
She tried to hasten him away before her parents decided to spy on them through the window curtains. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.
“Are you ashamed to let me meet your parents?”
“Yes.” She admitted, and had to laugh when she saw his face fall. “Ashamed of them, not of you. Now, come on. I’ve been waiting all week to see what kind of surprise you’ve cooked up for me.”
“It won’t be long now. Come along, my lady.” He bowed and reached out his hand to her. “Your chariot awaits.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes as she climbed into the passenger seat, and noted the torn leather seats and faded black vinyl. “Some chariot.” She teased, after he tried three times to coax the ignition to life. “I think we might have been better off on your bike.”
“Don’t listen to her, baby. She needs to learn to have respect for her elders.” He patted the cracked dashboard and was rewarded for the pep talk when the car finally sputtered to life. “If I were you, Becca, I would send only positive thoughts out to this car. She is going to carry us all the way to Atlantic City.”
“Atlantic City?” Rebecca swallowed hard. If her parents had any idea she was headed to the city, they would have a coronary. “What are we going to do there? We’re not old enough to gamble.”
“There are much more interesting places than casinos in the city. Just wait. You’ll see. Hey, don’t look so scared.” He joked. “I promise to get you there safely.”
“What if we break down on the expressway?” Rebecca fretted.
Being stuck on a road outside of Atlantic City was a scary thought—almost as scary as the idea of being lost inside the city. Certain areas of the town were known for their less than friendly occupants and dangerous side streets.
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Justyn promised. “I know my way around an engine.”
Surprisingly, she felt reassured—at least a little bit. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
“I don’t know how I finally managed to get you to come out on a date with me.”
Rebecca found herself blushing again, but she certainly couldn’t explain it. She had no idea what strange magnetic pull kept leading her back towards Justyn. She tried not to think about it, and instead focus on the fall foliage that lined the road in breathtaking shades of red, orange and yellow.
It was only a twenty-minute drive to Atlantic City from her house, but Rebecca was still a little uneasy as they began the treacherous journey. The traffic started to pick up as soon as Justyn got on the expressway, and Rebecca was glad she wasn’t the one driving. When his speedometer inched past sixty, she had to wonder if the vehicle would make it there in one piece at all. The entire car started to tremble from the exertion, and pieces of rust were falling down from the ceiling. Still, Justyn was true to his word, and soon the large, brightly lit casinos were looming overhead. But when he drove past all the huge parking lots and pulled down a shady looking back road, she had to wonder how long they were going to stay in one piece.
“We’re going to a pawn shop?”
That seemed to be the only type of store that lined the back road they were on. Justyn smiled secretly as he dropped a handful of quarters in the meter.
“You really have no patience whatsoever, do you?”
Rebecca shrugged. “Patience isn’t a virtue I’ve been overly endowed with.”
“Well, you’re going to learn to have patience today. Because we still have to walk a few blocks to get our destination.”
Rebecca had wanted to break away from the ordinary. Well, walking through the streets of Atlantic City certainly wasn’t ordinary for a goody-goody high school senior like her. And it was much more exciting than dinner and a movie—maybe a little too exciting. Maybe she would be better off with the all-American Tom instead of the risk-taking Gothic after all. Or maybe she was just no closer to choosing between them than she was when they made their ridiculous bargain.
“Come on. The boardwalk is this way.”
Justyn took hold of her hand. She immediately felt a surge of energy shoot up her arm, and she wondered if he felt the same thing. If he did, he gave no indication of it. It made her think that the electricity between them was only her imagination, and not a real life manifestation of chemistry.
They crossed a few streets and came to the front of the large, multi-story casinos. Justyn led her through one of the packed parking lots and they soon found themselves facing the deep blue ocean. Even over the noise of the slot machines and drunken patrons, she could still hear the calming crash of the waves breaking against the shore. She found that it calmed her frazzled nerves. They both paused at exactly the same moment to admire the awesome beauty. Then it started to drizzle again.
“You don’t mind getting a little wet, do you?” Justyn asked.
“Hey, you’re the witch. Are you sure you aren’t going to melt?”
He smiled and squeezed her hand. “I think I’ll take my chances. Hey, look!” He pointed up to the sky, and his face lit up like a little boy with a big present to open. “It’s a rainbow!”
Rebecca saw it too. It stretched over the patchy clouds in luminescent blues, reds, and purples, reaching down into the water on one end, and into the vast unknown on the other. It was completely breathtaking, and it filled her with a sense of wonder. It also made her heart swell with emotions she didn’t quite understand.
“It’s beautiful,” Rebecca whispered.
“Rainbows are a sign of new beginnings,” Justyn told her. “It means something wonderful is starting, right here, right now.”
“And what might that be?”
She expected some kind of poetic, romantic response. But she should have known by now that Justyn never did what she was expecting. He shrugged his shoulders, suddenly feigning disinterest. He just loved to annoy her.
“I don’t know. Maybe someone just hit the big jackpot in one of the casinos. Now, come on.” He pulled her across the boards. “We have reservations and we’re going to be late.”
They walked only a few more blocks before Justyn led her down a ramp and back onto another small side street. This road was dotted with a few different ethnic storefronts, and Justyn was guiding her towards one of them. It was a Middle Eastern restaurant called the Kairo Cafe. The front of the building had a fantastic mural painted to look like exotic castle doors. Again Rebecca felt a little nervous as she walked through those majestic doors and into a cloud of strange smelling smoke.
She coughed. “I thought smoking was outlawed in restaurants in New Jersey.”
“Not at a smoking bar.”
Justyn gestured to the line of colorful glass hookahs and the dark skinned men who sat with the braided tubes protruding from their mouths. Each blew a stream of smoke from their noses or mouths. Some even managed to blow circles with the smoke. Rebecca didn’t really see the appeal to the smoking. But the blown glass hookahs were elaborate and lovely, each a different color with carvings and engravings in silver and golden tones.
“Don’t worry.” Justyn continued. “We’re going into the dining room, and there isn’t any smoking allowed in there.”
Rebecca felt decidedly out of place as they were led to their table and handed their menus. But she couldn’t deny the ethnic charm of the small dining room. The candlelit chandeliers and a single flickering candle at each of the high tables cast the room in a delicate, romantic glow. Each one of those high tables, complete with matching bar stools, were filled with a wide array of people of every age, race, color, and creed. Apparently the Kairo Cafe was a hot spot in Atlantic City.
The walls were covered in colorful tapestries with delicate stitch work, and large oil paintings of far off lands. In the corner of the room was a small stage, complete with a dancing pole. It was all very charming, but Rebecca noticed that they were by far the youngest couple in the crowd. And when she stared down at the strange and unfamiliar menu choices, she felt even more anxious.
“Do you actually eat this stuff?”
Justyn had the nerve to look offended. “Of course. The food here is excellent.”
“Do you know what any of this means? Chicken Shawarma? Shish Tawook? Kafta Kabbob? Don’t they have any good veggie burgers here?”
He smiled; apparently impressed that she remembered he was a vegetarian. “I’ll be getting the Veggie Tabsi Falafel. That’s a shish kabbob made with all vegetables. Do you like chicken?” Rebecca nodded. “Then try the Shish Tawook. That’s just chicken in a garlic sauce. It’s not too spicy but has a really good flavor.”
“I’ll have to take your word for that.”
The waiter came and took their orders. Justyn laughed and the waiter looked at her like she had three heads when she asked for a soda to drink. With a blush, she settled for a glass of water, and sat back to wait for the mystery meal to arrive. When it did, it actually smelled pretty good. She picked up her fork, and was just about to ask Justyn what had made him choose such a little place for their date when the lights on the stage sprang to life. An older man walked up to the little podium, and spoke into a crackling microphone. He had a long, graying beard, and a colorful turban covered his head. His wide smile lit up the stage more than the lights.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” The man spoke in a thick Middle Eastern accent, each word rolling off his tongue like a purr or a growl. With only a few words, he had the whole crowd anticipating a great show. “Tonight for your viewing pleasure, we bring you a remarkable seductress. Let her entrance and mesmerize you with her breathtaking fusion of modern and traditional belly dance. I present to you . . . the amazing . . . the extraordinary . . . the alluring . . . Tempest!”
The old man disappeared around a corner taking the microphone with him, and Rebecca waited for someone to step onto the stage from behind the small curtain. A slow, deep, rhythmic drumming and the gentle flow of a wooden flute began to play, followed by a stringed, guitar-like instrument Justyn identified as a sitar. She was surprised when she heard a sudden jingling that beat in time with the music coming from behind her. She turned around and saw one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever laid eyes on standing in the dining room entrance way.
The woman sparkled and glimmered from head to toe. Even her eyes, the only part of her visible behind the long blue veil, were outlined in deep glittery make up, enhancing the already hypnotic stare of her deep, nearly black pupils. Long black curls cascaded down her bare back, moving in time to the music along with her gently shaking and pulsating torso.
Her costume was spectacular. The skirt was a rich blue that was fitted around her shapely hips and hung loosely down to her ankles. It reminded Rebecca of a mermaid fin; it fit her curves so perfectly. Both the skirt and the bra top were covered in silver coins and diamond cut glass that jingled and shimmered with every fluid movement. Her smooth perfect belly, bejeweled with large dangling blue gemstones, was so dazzling it might have been part of the costume instead of her own skin.
Rebecca was entranced as she watched the veiled woman weave her way through the crowd. Her face was still covered, giving her an air of mystery. She moved with a slow, practiced grace until she reached the center of the stage. Then the veils fell away, revealing her highly painted cheeks and lips. Her hips swayed to the music, her arms moved like snakes through the air. With each motion, the coins around her waist jingled in time to the slow moving music. Then the tempo changed. The new age ballad blended effortlessly into a faster paced mix, and the movements of the dancer became more intense. She wrapped her legs and arms around the dancing pole like she was gripping her lover in the throes of passion. Around them, the men in the room started to hiss.
“Why are they hissing at her?” Rebecca was a little shocked. How could anyone think she was anything but perfect?
“That’s a sign of appreciation in the middle east,” Justyn explained. “It’s like clapping, only not as noisy.”
Rebecca nodded, appeased, and went back to watching as the belly dancer twirled at an incredible pace, shaking and shaking, faster and faster, until Rebecca was sure she would fall to the ground in exhaustion. But when she did hit the ground, she inched her way along the stage, sliding on her belly like a graceful cat about to pounce on its prey, all the while sensually licking her lips. Then when the audience least expected it, she jumped back into a standing position, again without missing a beat, shaking her ornamented bosom in a way that would have been obscene if anyone else dared to try it. Yet on her it was only beautiful and feminine. She continued a complex mixture of shakes, twists and shimmies that were truly poetry in motion. Rebecca couldn’t tear her eyes away. She didn’t even blink. She was too afraid of missing even one impressive, fluid movement.
“Do you like it?” Justyn whispered beside her.
Like it? He was an artist. How could he possibly think a word as simple as ‘like’ could express the way she felt as she watched the dance continue. She had to swallow past a lump in her throat so that she could speak.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Justyn was undeniably smug and pleased with his accomplishment. “I’m glad you think so. I knew you would appreciate it.”
They watched in silence for the next half hour as the performer finished her routine. Rebecca’s dinner sat untouched, growing cold on her plate, because she refused to tear her eyes away from the dancing for even a moment. Only when there was an intermission did she even consider picking up her fork. But she quickly dropped it again when the beautiful, dark-haired woman waltzed up to their table, and without a word leaned over and kissed Justyn on the cheek. Rebecca knew her mouth fell open, and she had to stifle the ridiculous twinge of jealousy she felt. The woman had to be at least thirty, and hardly interested in a seventeen-year-old boy.
“Justyn, what a wonderful surprise.” Her voice was just as fluid as her movements. “I was wondering when you’d finally come to see my show.”
Justyn shrugged, completely nonchalant. “I told you I’d make it eventually.”
She nodded and looked Rebecca over appraisingly. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
“Darlene, this is Becca. Becca, Darlene.”
“It’s wonderful to meet you,” Rebecca told her honestly. “I really enjoyed your show. It was amazing.”
Darlene smiled broadly at the sincere compliment. Rebecca would have thought it was impossible, but it made her look even more beautiful. “Thank you. Well, I have to freshen up before I get back up there. It was very nice to meet you, Becca. I hope to see you again.”
“Great job tonight, Darlene.”
“Thanks, honey.” She patted Justyn’s shoulder, and again Rebecca felt inadequate. How could she possibly compete with perfection, even if she was at least ten years younger?
“I can’t believe you know the dancer,” Rebecca said, once she was gone. “How long have you known her?”
She tried to make the question sound casual, but Justyn was too perceptive not to pick up the hint of jealousy in her voice. It only infuriated her even more when he looked amused by it. She tried to mask her frown by picking up her water glass.
“Hmm, how long have I known Darlene? Well, only since the day I was born.” He smirked. “She’s my mother.”
Rebecca very nearly spit out the water she had just sipped. She actually did start choking on it. “Your . . . your mother,” she sputtered between coughs. “Are you kidding me?”
“Why would that be funny?” He seemed honestly confused.
“But she’s so . . . so . . . .”
“Beautiful? Exotic? Sexy? Yeah, I know. It’s a little weird sometimes. But she’s more than just a belly dancer, you know. She’s an EMT, an artist, and a Wiccan high priestess. She’s an amazing teacher, and an even more amazing mother. Besides, she doesn’t dress that way at home.”
Rebecca couldn’t help but giggle, just as much at her own silly jealousy than anything else. “Why do you call her Darlene?”
“Because that’s her name.”
“Do you always call her that?”
“No. Sometimes I call her Tempest. That’s her stage name, and the name she uses in the circle during her Wiccan rituals. She was the leader of a huge coven back in Vegas. Here, it’s just the two of us, until we meet some other pagans. And no, we don’t practice skyclad. I don’t want to see my mom naked even if she is more attractive than average.”
That was an understatement. Rebecca’s own mother was a plump, middle-aged matron who spent her nights playing bridge with her friends or watching reality television with her father. She would never be able to pull off that costume, and would probably wind up in traction if she even attempted any of those outrageous bends and twists.
“Wow, you certainly are full of surprises.”
“I try not to be boring.”
Rebecca laughed. Boring was not a word that could ever be associated with Justyn. And apparently it ran in the family.
They sat through the second half of the show, which was just as amazing as the first half. It was dark when they finally decided to leave. But Rebecca didn’t feel nearly as jumpy on the walk back to the car. In fact, she wasn’t nervous at all. The excitement of the night left her yearning for more. She waited with sweet anticipation for the goodnight kiss she was sure would come when he dropped her off at her front door. When Justyn led her to a bench so they could look out at the water, she thought perhaps the moment would arrive sooner.
It was the perfect romantic setting. The nearly full moon was large and bright in the sky, and its reflection shimmered across the calm water of the ocean. The earlier clouds had dissipated, but the temperature outside had dropped and Rebecca didn’t have a jacket. Justyn noticed right away when she started to shiver, and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.
“Are you cold? Do you want to leave?”
“Not yet. It’s so beautiful here. I could look out at the water forever.”
Rebecca sighed and leaned back against his chest. He lifted her chin, and his dark eyes met hers. She found it impossible to look away as he ran his hand along her check and started to sing. It was just a few short lines from the play, but the words had meaning in their real life situation.
“Beauty is the sound of your voice.
Tell me angel, have you made your choice?
Is it I or is it him?
I wait here to obey your whim.”
He moved in closer as he spoke, and Rebecca could feel his sweet breath on her lips. But right when she was certain those lips would touch hers, right when her body ached and yearned to feel that touch and her lips parted in anticipation, Justyn pulled away.
“I won’t kiss you, Becca. Not until you’ve made your choice. Not until I know I have you completely, body, and soul.”